Leading edge gauge for typewriting machines



Oct 9; 1945. c. w. BRUMHiLL LEADING EDGE GAUGE FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES2 Sheets-She et 1 1 Fil ed Feb. 24, 1945 /v. imammrl Invntor CLAUDE W.BRUMHILL Atto'rne Oct. 9, 1945. c. w. BRUMHILL LEADING EDGE GAUGE FORTYPEWRITING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Fgb, 24, 1943 F/GS.

Inventor CLAUDE W. BRUMHILL Attorn y the operators thumb Patented Oct.9, 1945 LEADING EDGE assignor toThe Imp 2,386,431 GAUGE FortTYPE'WRITING V ACHINES Claude Wellington Brumh erial ill,- Leicester,England,

Typewriter Comp-any,

Limited, Leicest r, England Application February 24, 1943, Serial No.476,971 In Great Britain November 27,1942

' 16 claims; ((31.197-126) This invention relates to typewriting machinecarriages of the type having a platen sub-frame carrying the platen andmounted on the carriage for displacement of the platen between operativeand inoperative positions, a paper support arm projecting from thesub-frame, and a paper. stop or leading edge gauge adjustable onsaidarm-to- Wards and away from the platen, and wherein the platen isdisplaceable to the inoperative position by a forward .pull exerted onsaid arm by the operator. Such carriages arecornmonly employed in'manifolding or continuous'stationery machines, i. e. machinesdrawing'their paper as a continuous multi-ply web from a .bulk supplythereof (often a zig-zag pile). In operation, the paper,interleaved'with carbon or like sheets, is fed round the platen andtyping continue suntil at the end of the requisite length thereof the aleading edge of paper abuts on the leading edge gauge. The operator thengrips the leading margin of paper'against the paper support arm'adjacent to the gauge, pulls on the'arm'to displace the platento-inoperative-position, causesthe carbons to be retracted between theplies of paper thus released from the feeding grip of the platen, andthen restores the platen; The chief object of the present-invention istheeliminat'ion "of certain difficulties (hereinafter explained) thathave been experienced in the use of carriages of the aforesaid typehaving a pivoted sub-frame, although it'is considered that the utilityof the invention isnot restricted. to pivoted sub-frames.

According to this invention,a typewriting machine carriage of the typespecified is characterised in that the leading edge gauge hasits-paperengaging part (i; e. that part against which the leading edgeof' the paper abuts and which'therefore serves as the gauge proper)offset towards one side of the paper-support arm in such manner as toleave room for'the operator to grip the extreme margin of the paperagainst said arm. The said part is preferably wholly offset beyond theside of the arm. According to an'important feature of the invention thegauge is void of any thumb-engaging edges or corners at the front of thearm (that is, edge's or corners that in forward movement of the arm'would' engage' the'side of ripping the paper against the arm). Since athumb-engaging surface is diflicult. to' avoid," it is preferred thatsuch surface shall present a convexity away from} the aforesaidpaper-engaging part.

a The an'd other features of the invention-set out in'the appendedclaims. areincorporated-in the. construction which will now be:described, as

an example, with reference to the accompanyin drawings, in which vFigure 1 is an end view of a typewriter carriage incorporating thepresent invention,

Figure 2 is a front elevation, on a larger scale,

of a portion of the paper support arm, including the leading edge gauge.

Figure 3 is a cross section on Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through the paper support arm andgauge'shownin Fig. 2, while I Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the useof the gauge.

In Figure 1 the invention is shown as applied to the typewriter carriagedescribed in British patent specification 548,198. For details referencemay be made to said specification, but a brief description will be givenherein and accorded the same-reference numerals. The typewriter carriagel 0 has, pivoted at the front thereof at 22 between the carriage ends23, a subfr e on i i of platen end plates 20 connected by a knife 2| inwhich sub-frame the platen H is mounted by the platen spindle I9. Thesaid sub-frame is displaceable about its pivot 22 (the axis ofdisplacement being parallel to but in advance of that of the platen) bymeans 'of the paper support arm 30 to swingthe platen ll upwards andforwards away from'the co-operating feed rollers 25, 26 and the p apertray 24 the line 33* in so that the feeding grip on the web of paperisrelaxed. This displacementis effected by hand, the operator gripping themargin 'of the paper against the paper support arm 30 as illustrated inFig. 5, and pulling thesupport arm forward. At each end of the sub-framethere is a lever pivoted at 35 said levers being connected by a tubularmember 31 to which the support'arm 3!) is attached. Thus when thesupport arm 301's pulled forward said levers3B are rocked about pivots35 against the action of springs 38, the extent of movement beingrestricted by'screws 42'passing through slots 4|. At least one lever 36carries a projecting stud or roller 39 which is thus brought intocontact witha platen-clamping lever 40 associated with a platenjc-lamp32,

pivoted to the car said clamp and lever being riage end 23 at'33-andbeing drawn by a spring 34so that theclamp 32 normally overlies a rolleron the platen spindle [9. The lever, 4ll and clamp 32'are thereby movedto the left in Fig- 1;

screw 42' extending through ward movement of the paper support arm 30the operators thumb T, gripping against said support arm that margin ofthe paper that abuts on the gauge 3|, tends to pivot or rock and if thegauge is of the shape shown in the aforesaid patent specification thiscauses the right-hand edge of the gauge to bite into the thumb and tendsto cause the operators grip on the margin of the paper to relax, and asimilar disadvantageous finger contact is established with that part ofthe gauge that projects at the back of arm 30. It isfurther to bepointed out that under wartime conditions there is a tendency for theuntyped margin of paper (that is to say the portion between theextremeedge of the paper and the extreme edge C of the carbons, as shownin Fig.

to be reduced to the minimum. Therefore if the paper-engaging part ofthe gauge extends across the width of the paper support arm 30 as in thesaid specification there is further a danger that the gripping thumbwill overlap the carbons. These difiiculties are overcome in the presentinvention. The gauge indicated generally at 3| has its paper-engagingpart em wholly offset to the left-hand side of the paper support arm 30so that plenty'of room is left for the thumb T. Additionally, the gaugeis void of any thumb-engaging edges or corners and the thumb-engagingsurface 3172 presents a convexity away from the paper-engaging part 31a.This effect is achieved by causing the surface of the sheet metal ofwhich the part 31a is formed (which surface projects at right angles tothe arm 30) to blend in a smooth curve around the axis of a clamping,screw 52. More specifically, the sheet metal is bent round and grips atapped boss 50 which projects from a slider 5| and houses the screw 52.It is also pointed out that the sheet material of which the part 3|b isformed is cranked so that the clamping screw and its boss are spacedfurther. from the platen ll than is said part 3la, thereby giving moreroom for the thumb. The paper support arm 30 is channel shaped insection as shown in Fig. 3, with inturned margins or gibs 30aconstituting a dovetailed channel in which the slider.

5| may be adjusted lengthwise to any desired position in which it may beclamped by the screw 52. This construction obviates any portion of thegauge projecting at the back of the paper support arm 30, where it maycut or interfere with the operators fingers, and permits the rearsurface of the arm 30 to be smooth.

The gauge also incorporates a forwardly projecting lip or edge 53, whichis preferably serrated or scalloped (as exemplified in Fig. 2), againstwhich the paper may be gripped by the thumb. This provides a firm gripeven though the marginof paper may be small. Preferably the spacingbetween this edge 53 and the part 3lb is adjustable in the direction ofthe length of the arm 30. To this end the edge 53 is formed on a platemember 54 which extends slidably between the slider 5| and the frontface of the channel in said arm 30, the said plate member 54 beingengaged by the end of the screw 52. It will thus be seen that byslacking off'screw 52 not only may the gauge as a whole be adjustedalong the arm 30, but the position of the edge 53 in relation to thepart 3lb may be adjusted, said gauge and edge being clamped bytightening up the screw 52. The lip or edge 53 provides a well 55,between it and the boss 50 as shown in Fig. 4, which enhances the gripon the paper web. In order to prevent the plate member 54 from becomingdetached its upper edge may be given an out-turned lip 54a.

The paper-support arm and gauge may be sold,

' as replacements or spare parts, separately from the carriage, andtherefore the invention includes said arm and gauge.

' I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine carriage having a platen sub-frame carryingthe platen, and a paper support arm projecting from the sub-frame, aleading edge gauge mounted on the arm for adjustment along it whichgauge has a paperengaging part offset at one side of the arm leavingroom for the operator to press the extreme margin of the paper towardsthe arm with his thumb, a tapped boss on the gauge projecting at theforward face of the arm at a location further from the platen than thesaid part, aconnection integral with the said part for connecting it tothe boss and blending in a smooth curve around the axis of the boss, anda clamping screw in the boss for clamping the gauge in the desiredposition of adjustment along the arm.

2. In a typewriting machine carriage having a platen-carrying sub-frameand a papersupport arm extending therefrom: a leading edge gaugecomprising a portion longitudinally adjustably secured to said arm andprojecting forwardly therefrom, said portion presenting a smooth curvedsurface for preventing injury to the operators hand when manuallygripping the paper; a paper-stop portion laterally offset from saidsecuring portion whereby the paper may be gripped adjacent the securingportion without engagement between the hand and said stop portion; and amember presenting an edge at the front of said support arm against whichthe paper may be gripped, said member being adjustable relative to theother portions of the gauge in a direction longitudinal of the supportarm.

3. A leading edge gauge for a typewriting machine carriage having aplaten-carrying subframe and a paper support arm extending therefrom,said gauge comprising a slider, member mountable on said support arm foradjustment longitudinally thereof; means for securing said member to thearm; and a paper-stop element carried by said slider member, comprisinga portion projecting forwardly from said member and presenting a smoothconvex surface for preventing injury to the operators thumbwhen'grippin'g the paper adjacent thereto, and a paper-engaging portionextending laterally from said first named portion.

4. A leading edge gauge for atypewriter machine carriage having a,platen-carrying 'subframe and paper support arm extending therefrom,said gauge comprising a slider member mountable on said support arm foradjustment longitudinally thereof means for securing said member to thearm; and a paper-stop element comprising a substantially cylindricalportion extending'from the forward face of theslider member andpresenting a smooth convex thumb engaging'surface, and a paper-engagingportion extending from and offset both laterally" and 'lo'ngitudinally,with respect: to said cylindrical .p'ortion,sal1 parts: of-saidgaugebeing disposable forend of the plate member which is nearest to thewardly of the plane of the rear face of the support arm. 7

5. A typewriting machine carriage of the type specified, having apaper-support arm the front face of which is formed longitudinally witha dove-tailed channel, a slider slidable along the channel and having atapped boss projecting forward from it, a plate member located betweensaid slider and the face of the channel andmovvable relatively to theslider, a clamping screw in the tapped boss for bearing against theplate member to clamp the latter and the slider to one another and tothe arm, a paper-engaging part ofiset to the left-hand side of the armat a location nearer to the platen than the said boss and having aconnection to said boss, and a forweirdly-projecting paper-grip lip oredge at that CLAUDE WELLINGTON 'BRUMHILL.

